What is Buddhism?

By Jack Kornfield

Our understanding of Buddhism is helped by seeing the stuctures
of the entire spiritual path, by understanding its essence and how
it brings about human happiness and freedom. The essential path taught
by the Buddha has three parts to it. The first is kindness of heart,
which is practiced by a combination of virtue and generosity. The second
is inner stillness or concentration. The third aspect of all Buddhist
practice is the development of liberating wisdom. All Buddhist practices
are ways of developing virture that entails the non-harming of other
beings and a generosity of heart. There are ways of developing concentration,
stillness, steadiness, clarity or depth of mind; and there are ways
of developing insight or wisdom, a wise relationship to the whole body
and mind, and the freedom that comes from it. These three aspects of
practice themselves are but the means to the final freedom of the heart.
As the Buddha himself said, "The purpose of my teaching of the
holy life of the Dharma is not for merit, nor good deeds, nor rapture,
nor concentration, nor insight, but the sure heart's release." This
and this alone is the reason for the teaching of the Buddha. The purpose
of all these practices of virtue, kindness, non-harming, generosity,
concentration, steadiness of mind, and the understanding and wisdom
that arises, is to bring us to freedom.

The many practices of Buddhism are like paths up a mountain, outwardly
different approaches that are appropriate for different personalities
and character types. Yet, through skillful guidance and skillful teachers,
many of these paths can be used to lead one to universal vision at
the summit of the mountain.

Lama Govinda uses the image of a seed and a tree as a nondualistic
way of illustrating the variety of Buddhist practices available. Two
thousand five hundred years ago, Siddhartha Gotama, through his extraordinary
realization, planted a seed of timeless wisdom and compassion. Over
the centuries, the seed has grown and produced an enormous and wonderful
tree, which has a trunk and branches, flower and fruit. Some people
claim that the roots are the true Buddhism; others claim, "No,
it's the great trunk of the tree," or "the fruit of Vajrayana," or "the
roots of Theravada Buddhism." In fact, all parts of the tree support
one another. The leaves give nourishment back to the roots; the roots
draw moisture and minerals, bringing nourishment up to the leaves,
and they in turn provide support for the flowers and the fruit. It
is all part of the whole, and to understand that is to see the creative
and dynamic forces that were set loose from the seed of the Buddha's
awakening.

As Buddhism comes to North America, a wonderful new process is happeining.
All of us want what was mostly the special dispensation of monks in
Asia: the real practice of the Buddha. We, too, want to live the realizations
of the Buddha and bring him into our hearts, our lives, and our time.
This is why so many Americans have been drawn to Buddhist practice.
Somehow we have an intuitive sense of the potential of human freedom
and the heart of basic goodness, the timeless discovery of the Buddha.
We are drawn not just to study it and understand it, but to practice
it, realize it, and live it in our lives. When we pracitce with devotion
and a love for truth, we can each find the timeless freedom and compassion
of the Buddha in our very own heart.